A career Foreign Service Officer, William Brownfield was United States Ambassador to Colombia. He arrived in Colombia on August 31, 2007, and was accredited by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on September 12, 2007. On August 3, 2010, the United States confirmed Peter Michael McKinley as the new ambassador to Colombia.
Prior to arriving in Colombia, Brownfield was Ambassador to Venezuela, and before that Chile.
Ambassador Brownfield's first assignment after joining the Foreign Service in 1979 was in Maracaibo, Venezuela. His other overseas postings include service as Counselor for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, and assignments in Argentina and El Salvador. He was temporarily assigned as Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command in Panama 1989–1990.
In a nationally televised speech on April 9, 2006, Venezuelan PresidentHugo Chávez threatened to expel Brownfield for "provoking the Venezuelan people."[2] Chávez said "Start packing your bags, mister - if you keep on provoking us, start packing your bags, because I'll kick you out of here."[2]
On January 25, 2007, Brownfield was again threatened with expulsion by President Chávez. Chávez was responding to Brownfield's comments on the planned nationalization of several Venezuelan companies in which US companies are minority shareholders.[3]
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
